


Seasonal appropriate decorations

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Series: Saphael Winter Tales [12]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Catholic Character, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Tree, Declarations Of Love, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Jewish Character, Jewish Holidays, Living Together, M/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-02 21:25:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8683906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: "You do realise that Hanukkah isn't for another three weeks, right?" Simon asked, his lips curling into an amused smile when Raphael honestly pouted."I know but it's technically not Christmas either so I thought when I put up my decorations, it's only fair to put up yours as well."Simon chuckled softly and he honestly loved that Raphael didn't just think of the typical Christian decorations but of the Jewish ones as well, even though his family never really celebrated Hanukkah but it still caused a warm feeling in his chest that his boyfriend always considered his religious beliefs and either asked Simon about his traditions or looked them up.





	

Simon got home from the most stressful day of work of maybe the entire year - which said something because it was the beginning of December already - and he just wanted to curl up in his bed, preferably with his boyfriend but he knew Raphael had to work late today. He closed the door to their shared apartment with a sigh, brushing already melting snowflakes from his messy hair and kicking off his shoes before slipping off his jacket.

When Simon entered the kitchen to make some tea, though, he noticed a light in the conjoined living room and frowned in confusion. Did Raphael forget to turn off the lights before leaving for work? It was a pretty gloomy day, grey sky covered with snow-heavy clouds that emptied their icy white content onto the world every hour, so it wouldn't be weird that his boyfriend had turned on the lights in the middle of the day.

"Rapha?" He asked anyway even though he knew the other wasn't home but apparently this knowledge was wrong because when he stepped into the living area, there was his lover standing in front of a mostly decorated Christmas tree with a frown on his face that was replaced with an amused smile when his dark eyes landed on Simon.

"Welcome home, baby. How was work?" Raphael asked with a gentle smile and walked up to Simon, brushing a soft kiss on his boyfriend's lips and wrapping his arms around Simon to pull him into a loving embrace.

"It was horrible and I don't even want to think about it. Not that I mind but: what are doing home? I thought you will be late today?"

"Well, that might have been a deliberately wrong information to surprise you with seasonal appropriate decorations that might be a religious mess," Raphael answered with a smirk and Simon couldn't help but laugh at his lover's wording. He had only noticed the tree but now that he actually paid attention to what else was new in their living room he also saw the _menorah_ , a nine-branched candelabrum for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, sitting on the dresser next to the couch.

"You do realise that Hanukkah isn't for another three weeks, right?" Simon asked, his lips curling into an amused smile when Raphael honestly _pouted_.

"I know but it's technically not Christmas either so I thought when I put up my decorations, it's only fair to put up yours as well."

Simon chuckled softly and he honestly loved that Raphael didn't just think of the typical Christian decorations but of the Jewish ones as well, even though his family never really celebrated Hanukkah but it still caused a warm feeling in his chest that his boyfriend always considered his religious beliefs and either asked Simon about his traditions or looked them up.

He had honestly expected that moving in with Raphael might cause a few clashes between them because they were pretty different not only when it came to religion but their characters as well. But they lived together for almost a year now and Simon couldn't be happier.

"Did I tell you that I love you?" Simon asked with a soft smile and Raphael chuckled, pulling him further into the room and closer to the tree.

"Pretty sure you mentioned it once or twice but it never hurts to repeat yourself," his boyfriend replied and stole another kiss before nudging Simon towards a box filled with the rest of the decorations for the tree.

"Come on, how about you help me finish this and then we cuddle up on the couch and you can vent about what happened at work?"

"Hm, I don't want to vent. I just want to forget about it but cuddling does sound like an amazing idea. And I will help you with your tree - somebody has to place the Christmas tree topper on the top, anyway," Simon commented with a teasing grin and jerked away when Raphael's fingertips playfully dug into his side.

"You're only two or three inches taller than me, _cariño_ , shut up." Raphael shoved him gently and tried to put on a convincing glare when Simon struck his tongue out in return before grabbing the package with the suspiciously glittery looking baubles and he didn't even have to ask who was responsible for these. Magnus had the hobby to give them random presents or, more precisely, to give Raphael random presents because for some reason these two have been best friends for years and Magnus never really knew where to put all his money so he bought stuff like sparkly bauble for them, apparently.

"I told Magnus about my plan to surprise you with the tree and I made the mistake to mention that I didn't have any decorations so...he brought this over," Raphael explained, seemingly reading Simon's mind, and pointed at the box with the decorations.

"He brought the whole box?" Simon questioned but, okay, looking at the rest of the items, many of them were glittery or at least colours Raphael would never buy voluntarily. The baubles were a variation of...

"Wait a sec, did he buy the baubles in the colours of the asexual flag? And...the tinsel in the pansexual colours," Simon realised and his lover breathed a disbelieving " _Dios mío_ " while glancing into the box and noticing that Simon was right.

"I'm not an expert on colour combinations but I'm pretty sure this might look a little weird together," Raphael commented but he obviously had to hold back his laughter and shook his head in silent disbelief about his best friend's weird ideas.

"Well, people would also say we look weird together so..."

"Did you just compare us to Christmas tree decorations?"

Raphael's raised eyebrows caused laughter to bubble up in Simon's chest and he grabbed some of the tinsel to drape around his lover's shoulders and over his soft curls just because he could and then he laughed some more at Raphael's pretended resigned sigh but he caught the way his boyfriend's lips tried to twitch into a smile.

In the end, they did put all of the decorations on the tree even though the colours didn't quite match but the tree did turn out very sparkly and festively colourful. It certainly managed to let Simon forget about his bad mood from before but Raphael always managed to make everything okay again, no matter how shitty work might have been - coming home to a gorgeous, loving boyfriend was certainly a sure way to keep you from being stuck in a foul mood for the whole day.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Cariño_ \- Darling/Sweetheart


End file.
